Cayman Islands

Today's successful offshore financial centers have a long history of promoting commercial certainty for global clientèle. For the Cayman Islands, this has meant adherence to recognized and relevant international standards, which has helped fuel sustainable growth of the financial sector. The Cayman Islands is a mature, sophisticated and well established domicile for the global insurance industry and is supported by a sound legal framework and modern infrastructure. Knighthead Annuity & Life Assurance Company is registered as a Class B (iii) Long Term insurer in the Cayman Islands and is regulated by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority ("CIMA" - see further details below). Knighthead Annuity has been established in the Cayman Islands for a number of important reasons, but foremost is because it is a good place for us to conduct our business and to best serve the long term needs of our clients.

Cayman Islands Facts

• The Cayman Islands is a British Overseas Territoryadministered by the Cayman Islands Government. The Queen ofEngland’s appointed representative, the Governor, is chargedwith ensuring security and good governance within the CaymanIslands.
• Moody's, one of the world's foremost financial ratingagencies, has assigned its very high rating of Aa3 with astable outlook to the Cayman Islands. As noted by AM Best inAugust 2015, the Cayman Islands has “low levels of economic,political and financial risk”.
• Insurance laws in the Cayman Islands have explicit and clearpolicyholder protections that include the prohibition of 3rdparty creditor claims against policyholder assets.
• Cayman Islands operates on a philosophy of transparency andhas cooperation agreements in place with every majorinternational regulatory authority to prevent money launderingand tax evasion. Under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Actand the Common Reporting Standard, the Cayman Islands hascommitted to the automatic reporting of financial informationof every account maintained in the Cayman Islands.
• The Cayman Islands is a tax-exempt jurisdiction where thegovernment relies on indirect and not direct taxes.Consequently, the government imposes no income tax, capitalgains tax or any wealth tax.

CIMA Facts (As of December 2021)

A copy of CIMA’s current Fact Sheet is accessible here. Further details of CIMA’s regulation of the Cayman Islands Insurance industry and standards of regulation applied are accessible here.